His Secret Desire by Drew Sinclair Page A

country road.
    "What the hell?"
    There was no sign of the car or its burly
occupant. Katy didn't know whether to be relieved or more terrified
than ever.
    Her phone buzzed and she picked it up. Only a
very short list of people had this particular number and she didn't
recognize the one on screen.
    Not good.
    She made a few taps on her phone to access a
feature known only to manual reading geeks like her, and in an
instant she was listening to the caller go to voicemail on speaker
phone.
    "Ms. Maldon, I need to know where you
are?"
    What the hell? It was Clayton
Hargrave.
    She snatched the phone up.
    "How the hell did you get this number?"
    "Why the hell aren't you at home getting
ready for dinner? I've been busting my ass getting a god damn
vegetarian meal ready for you for the last hour and my surveillance
guy tells me you are halfway to Canada already. I thought we had a
deal?"
    This is a Blackphone, encrypted, noiseless,
how the hell…?
    She searched the forest around her and then
looked into her rear view mirror.
    "Oh shit. He's there again." She hissed into
the phone.
    "Stay calm Ms. Maldon. Don’t leave your car.
Tell me what he looks like."
    "He's tall, over six foot, Latino looking or
maybe Hawaiian--"
    "Stop there. That's enough."
    "He's walking towards my car. I'm gonna use
my weapon."
    "Don’t do that Katy; he's my guy.
That's Angel for Christ's sake, I asked him to stay with you and
keep you out of trouble until my car came to pick you up for
dinner."
    Katy looked into the rear view mirror and the
figure she saw looked obviously concerned and extremely
non-threatening. She sobbed into the phone with relief.
    "You damn asshole. You scared the life out of
me. I thought I was… I thought he must be…"
    "Must be who?"
    Another near slip up. It felt like she was
falling apart, her fake life beginning to crack up inside her own
head.
    "No-one. I just didn’t know who the hell was
following me."
    Angel tapped on the window.
    "Ms. Maldon, my name is Angel Montoya, I work
for Mr. Clayton Hargrave. Can I please speak to you for a
moment?"
    "Tell your goon to leave me alone." Katy
said.
    "He's not a goon, he's an old college friend
and the best personal security professional on the East Coast.
However, if you insist I will tell him to leave you alone. Give him
your phone."
    "Call him yourself, I'm not opening the
door."
    Clayton sighed and then put the call on mute
while he dialed Angel directly and spoke with him directly through
his earpiece. The tall man nodded and backed away from Katy's car
and then Clayton's voice returned to her ear.
    "Is that better?" He said.
    "It's better. Now can you please tell me how
you got this number?"
    "Of course I can. I'll tell you just as soon
as you get here."
    "I'm not going to your place so you can tell
me now."
    There was a silence while Clayton considered
his words. He was more used to putting people under pressure than
trying to put them at ease.
    "Would you mind telling me where you are
going?" He said.
    "I can't. It wouldn't be good for you."
    "I think I can be the judge of that."
    "Not this time. I can't help you Hargrave.
I'm officially no longer in the business of protecting other
people's privacy. As of one hour ago I am now retired. You'll have
to find somebody else."
    "Is this because of Jack Patterson?"
    Shit. From total blackout, untraceable
anonymity to total wide-open exposure in a matter of hours.
    "I've never heard of Jack Patterson." She
said in low, grim voice.
    "That is what I would call a perfect example
of implausible deniability Ms. Maldon. Shall I ask the question
again?"
    She sighed. "God damn it. No. Don't ask it
again."
    "I'll take that as a yes in that case."
    "Take it whatever way you want Hargrave. Why
don't you cut to the chase? What's your damn angle in all of
this?"
    "I keep telling you, I just want you to
consider working for me."
    "Does working for you include taking care of
your bedroom needs as well?"
    There was a tense pause. Katy had spoken